Pratt & Whitney recently announced its E-STEM Awards in partnership with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The awards will grant a total of US$250,000 to support innovative E-STEM education programmes around the world that build the skills and capacity for students ages 11-18 to use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to address environmental challenges. Applications will open in May 2022.
Together with NAAEE, Pratt & Whitney will be awarding nonprofit organisations that have demonstrated excellence in established E-STEM education an E-STEM Excellence Prize of up to $50,000 in three regions: Asia-Pacific (APAC); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and the Americas. The partnership will also offer regional E-STEM Innovation Grants of up to $15,000 to nonprofits that are interested in launching new E-STEM programmes.
“Pratt & Whitney continues to pave the future of sustainable aviation, and as part of that we recognise the need to nurture the next generation of innovative engineers and sustainability experts,” said Satheeshkumar Kumarasingam, chief transformation and strategy officer, Pratt & Whitney, and the champion of the program. “The E-STEM Awards will give more students the opportunity to tackle environmental challenges and inspire real-world solutions.”
“We’re proud to partner with Pratt & Whitney to support nonprofits working with students to solve critical environmental issues using STEM solutions,” said Judy Braus, the executive director of NAAEE. “By building on the passion of our young people, this program opens new career doors, advances STEM learning, and paves the way toward building healthier and more resilient communities.”
Pratt & Whitney said it is committed to ensuring that future generations of engines are ready to operate with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to reduce dependence on fossil fuels while improving engine efficiency. The company successfully tested the GTF Advantage engine with 100 percent SAF in March 2022. The company is also developing a range of technologies to drive further reductions in CO2 emissions from future aircraft designs. Since entering service in 2016, the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine family has saved operators more than 600 million gallons (two billion litres) of fuel and avoided more than 6 million metric tonnes of CO2.